Government Briefs

Mayor floats property tax cut plan
In his annual address to the City Council last month, Mayor Bloomberg proposed cutting property taxes by about 5 percent and permanently eliminating the city’s sales tax on clothing. The property tax cuts would run for at least a year. In total, the tax cut package would cost the city $1 billion, according to the New York Times.

Spitzer swats down rent-regulation proposal
Gov. Spitzer blocked an end-of-term Pataki administration proposal to change the laws that govern rent-regulated apartments. The proposal would have allowed landlords to double security deposits and make tenants pay for lead removal from their units, according to the New York Daily News. Also, in his first annual address to the State Legislature earlier in the month, Spitzer outlined several real estate-related initiatives that his administration intends to pursue, including reforming Wick’s Law, which requires that cities divide large construction jobs into multiple contracts; extending the Empire State Development Corporation’s reach; cutting property taxes; and increasing the state’s stock of affordable housing.

Queens groups decry 421-a scope
Spokespeople for some affordable housing groups in Queens are criticizing the 421-a revamp endorsed by the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg in December. They say not enough neighborhoods were included in the exclusion zones, and, as a result, luxury properties will be built in areas that need more affordable housing.

Village Historic District proposed
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is calling for the creation of a South Village Historic District. The district would cover the area south of West Fourth Street to West Houston Street between Seventh Avenue and LaGuardia Place, with an extension from West Houston Street down to Watts Street between Sixth Avenue and West Broadway. Last month, the historic society delivered an 80-page report, three years in the making, on the desk of Robert Tierney, chairperson of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, calling for a district consisting of 38 blocks and about 800 buildings, the Villager reported.

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Atlantic Yards lawsuits begin
Lawyers filed papers in federal court last month on behalf of residents who will be displaced to make way for developer Bruce Ratner’s massive Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. Although the state’s Public Authorities Control Board approved the project in December, the plaintiffs are filing suit against the developer’s impending use of eminent domain.

Bids in for Javits hotel
The Empire State Development Corporation will consider bids from the Moinian Group with Marriott International, Extell Development with Hyatt, and Austin-based Faulkner with Hilton for the Javits Center convention hotel, the New York Post reported.

Green thumbs-up for design
The Bloomberg administration is giving a 60,000-square-foot lot in the South Bronx to a team of architects and developers who will construct a low- and moderate-income housing complex called Via Verde. The project is the result of a design competition sponsored by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York chapter of the American Institute for Architects. The winning team is made up of Grimshaw Architects, Dattner Architects, and developers the Jonathan Rose Companies and the Phipps Houses Group, the Times reported.

Governors Island design finalists named
The Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp. named five landscape architecture teams finalists for the rights to design 87 acres of park space on Governors Island. The designer will be chosen this summer after a public-review period, the Post reported.

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